BUCS Student Yachting Championship 2015
Southampton Red are the British Yachting Champions 2015
HRH The Princess Royal welcomes the teams home
In an exciting last two days of the 2015 British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) yachting nationals, Southampton Red maintained their lead overall to win the Championship. Following a very close dual between Southampton Red and Southampton Solent Red in the long inshore race on the penultimate day, the wind much reduced on the last. With the only one race possible being non-discardable, Oxford pulled ahead of Cambridge by half a point to take 2nd, and Solent Red had to make do with 4th.
HRH The Princess Royal, President of the Royal Yachting Association, flew in as the Sunsail Match First 40s returned to Port Solent. Accompanied by John Derbyshire, RYA Performance Director, Princess Anne proceeded to walk the extensive Sunsail pontoon to meet and talk with many of the teams. When all the sailors were gathered for tea, Princess Anne spent time meeting with the race officials and with some members of the Committee of the British Universities’ Sailing Association: Emily Wiltshire (Wales), Theo Hoole (Scotland) and Tom Harrison (Yachting Captain), together with Annabel Vose, one of three student athletes worldwide awarded International University Sport Federation (FISU) Scholarships in 2014-15
John Inverdale, President of BUCS presided at the Prize Giving, together with Mrs Karen Rothery, CEO, and Sean Clarkson, Event Director and BUSA Technical Delegate. HRH The Princess Royal awarded the Trophy, together with BUCS medals, to the Champions, Southampton Red and medals to Oxford Blue and Cambridge Blue. The Scottish and Welsh Trophies were awarded to Strathclyde Blue and Cardiff Red respectively and the Jim Saltonstall Teapot Trophy to the winners of the Long Inshore Race, Southampton Red (Jim was, for many years, President of BUSA).
In closing the proceedings, John Inverdale paid tribute to the sportsmanship of all the competitors and thanked all those who had worked so hard to ensure the success of the Championship. On behalf of the Fleet, the RYA and BUSA and the British Universities and Colleges Sport, he warmly thanked The Princess Royal for her interest in student sport, and sailing in particular, and for giving so much time to meet and talk with the teams and officials, as well as making this event so memorable for all taking part.
The top eight teams went home with an added bonus, particularly welcome to their Athletics/Sports Unions, of the following “BUCS points”:
Southampton Red 50
Oxford Blue 35
Cambridge Blue 24
Southampton Solent Black 16
Southampton Blue 14
Warwick White 12
Southampton Solent White 10
Exeter Green 8
The top teams from each of the countries, England, Scotland and Wales, receive invitations to represent their respective countries at the Student Yachting World Cup in France in October 2015. As Southampton Red are the reigning World Champions, Oxford Blue will also be invited to represent England, together with Strathclyde Blue for Scotland and Cardiff Red for Wales.
Event Director and BUSA Technical Delegate, Sean Clarkson, spoke at the end of the event: “It was a pleasure to run the Yachting Championships, having being involved with the event in one form or another for a number of years. Given the forecast at the start of the week, we were very lucky with the weather on the whole, although it was very unfortunate to lose a full day of sailing. The weather conditions were very varied throughout the week, which the sailors thoroughly enjoyed, despite it testing them to their maximum! Everyone thoroughly engaged with the BUSA-appointed coaches throughout the week, with performance on the water noticeably improving as a result of debriefs or on-board/on-the-water coaching. The end of event prize giving was a great finale, with the honour of HRH The Princess Royal meeting teams as they disembarked from their boats and handing out trophies and medals at the prize giving. For many of the sailors, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime, and truly memorable, experience. I would like to thank all of the competitors for their commitment and enthusiasm throughout the event, and thank all of the event management team for their tireless work before, during, and after the event. We’re already looking forward to the event in 2016, with plans afoot to make it a truly memorable event!
See Final Report with Photographs
Seee full Final Results: http://www.busa.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2015/04/15bucs-busaYachtingChamps_FinRes.pdf
The event was followed on the BUSA Yachting Championships 2015 Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/664601126996567, with Live Results on line and Fleet tracking on www.marinetraffic.com.